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Saturday, December 10, 2016

A Candlelight Courting by Joyce DiPastena Day 6 of the Christmas Countdown

Joyce DiPastena dreamed of green medieval forests while growing up in the dusty copper mining town of Kearny, Arizona. She filled her medieval hunger by reading the books of Thomas B. Costain (where she fell in love with King Henry II of England), and later by attending the University of Arizona where she graduated with a degree in history, specializing in the Middle Ages. The university was also where she completed her first full-length novel…set, of course, in medieval England. Later, her fascination with Henry II led her to expand her research horizons to the far reaches of his “Angevin Empire” in France, which became the setting of her first published novel, Loyalty’s Web (a 2007 Whitney Award Finalist).

When she’s not writing, Joyce loves to read, play the piano, and spend time with her sister and friends. A highlight of her year is attending the annual Arizona Renaissance Festival . Joyce is a multi-published, multi-award winning author who specializes in sweet medieval romances heavily spiced with mystery and adventure. She lives with her two cats, Clio and Glinka Rimsky-Korsokov, in Mesa, Arizona.

Q & A With The Author:

1. Describe
yourself in 50 words or less.

Shy, quiet, old fashioned, likes people but better at listening
than talking to them, loves music and playing the piano, was a childhood comic
book fanatic (especially Spiderman, Fantastic Four, and Thor), medieval history
nerd, BIG fan of chocolate, can be bribed with homemade chocolate chip cookies
(no nuts).

When Burthred comes courting on Christmas Eve, Meg rejects his advances. She has her heart set on becoming a nun and insists that he call her Christina, the spiritual name she has chosen for herself. She tries to make him swear on her box of holy relics that he will not pursue her, but he carefully words his oath to allow him to stay in her candlelit chamber and try to change her mind.

What Meg does not confess is that her reliquary box holds a secret.

Burthred needs a wife, and no one will satisfy him except Meg. He swore on his father’s deathbed that he would marry her. But Burthred has a secret, too. When they come together before the Yule fire, their shared revelations will either join their hearts together or tear them apart.

Had her father
locked the door? She took a step forward to test the latch, then froze, the
hairs prickling along the back of her neck. A sky heavy for weeks with snow
clouds blocked even a faint glimmer of the stars or moon from filtering through
the wooden shutters into her chamber. Even so, she could have found her way to
the door with her eyes closed, but she felt her lids instead straining wide.
She thought she heard a soft intake of breath. A breath that had not come from
her lungs.

“Who’s there?”
Her voice came out in a terrified strangle.

A rustling
sound, followed by a distinct clearing of a throat, and then, “My lady—”

The gruff male
voice topped off her panic. Christina stumbled back against her bed and
screamed like a madwoman.

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